PET bottles up to challenges of African region

Sidel StarLite is a new design to the base of standard PET bottles. With a slightly altered design from the standard base, StarLite gives added durability, stability, and overall resistance to the bottles. Additionally, the new design offers a more energy efficient method of production, allowing producers to achieve significant savings on both energy and the amount of PET used for the overall production of the bottles.

The innovative design employs two different components in the base simultaneously. The first component is the Edge BeamTM, which is a groove system that keeps the base rigid. The second component of the design is called the Smart DiscTM. This underlying facet gives the base more structure while preventing deformities during any part of the production line. Producers adopting this new base design can expect to see up to 30% resistance from top-load denting on the pallet and up to 55% side-load resistance on the conveyor belt or in a vending machine.

In addition to shock and pressure resistance, these features give the bottles added resilience to extreme conditions. In tests of extreme heat above 50°C, bottles with the StarLite technology averaged up to 25 days without bottle deformation. On the other hand, under frozen conditions they experience up to a 50% reduction in bottle rollout. This will be extremely beneficial to producers in Africa region during the hot summer months.

StarLite technology also allows for more lightweighting options for producers. By implementing the technology, an average of 1 gram of PET for 0.5 litre bottles and up to 2 grams of PET for 1.5 litre bottles could be saved. This equates to up to EUR 700,000 cost savings per year. Furthermore, energy savings are a huge possibility too. Only 16-20 bars of pressure are required for 0.5 to 1 litre bottles, as opposed to the standard 25 bars, equating to up to 25% in energy cost savings (EUR 900,000). Additionally, the technology is compatible with Sidel Matrix system, resulting in possible outputs of over 2,250 bottles per mould per hour.

Samuel Gobbe, the Customer Service Director at Sidel, said: “Bottled water remains the top selling item in the global non-alcoholic beverage market. With countries like Nigeria which is forecasted to consume 49,647 million litres in 2018 and have a steady growth of over 11 percent over the past four years, it has become increasingly apparent that we have to make our customer’s PET do a lot more for them. This new technology will ensure that their PET is being used efficiently and effectively while they enjoy the savings.”

He continued: “As with all of our new innovations, StarLite is compatible with our Matrix technology, as well as integrated into already existing bottle designs. It is a perfect fit in high heat environments as it shows resistance to the very high temperatures and is easily adaptable to customer requirements.”

The design, released last year, has already had much success in terms of environmental impact and sustainability. It won the award for the “Best Environmental Sustainability Initiative” category at the 2013 Global Bottled Water Awards. Since then, the design has been employed for the production of juices and CSDs throughout the Greater Middle East and Africa region. However, with the rise in popularity of bottled water, both still and carbonated, Sidel has realized the potential for this technology in this niche of the market and released it for continued success. Some of the customers who adopted this technology from around the world are Nestle Pakistan, Rayyan Water in Qatar and Araak Food Industries in Sudan among many others.